It’s one of the best days in the sports — the opening of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament — and I’ll be here to follow every single game with live analysis, videos and more.
But first, make sure you check out a few key items: our NCAA Tournament bracket, NCAA Tournament schedule, 50 reasons to be excited for March Madness and top plays of the first round.
Let’s get to it.
15. Princeton 59, 2. Arizona 55
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Interview with Princeton star: Tosan Evbuomwan
“We never give up, we never count ourselves out,” said Evbuomwan in an exclusive interview after the Tigers’ stunning upset.
In addition to discussing how the Tigers held Arizona scoreless in the final four minutes of the game, Evbuoman also talked about his unusual origin story, as the 22-year-old from England didn’t start playing basketball until he was “about 14.”
Check out the full interview here:
Breakdown of Princeton’s victory:
In 1996, Mitch Henderson was one of Pete Carril’s starters as the 13th-seeded Princeton Tigers knocked off defending national champion and 4th-seeded UCLA in the Hall of Famer’s final season.
On Thursday afternoon in Sacramento, Henderson was on the sidelines coaching his alma mater when it again stunned the college basketball world.
In the March Madness following Carril’s passing, Princeton has captured the magic of the sport, overcoming a 10-point deficit with eight minutes left and stunning 2nd-seeded Arizona.
The Tigers, who advanced in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years, made it three consecutive seasons that a 15-seed has defeated a 2-seed in the big dance, and a second straight year that the 15 has hailed from New Jersey (Saint Peter’s).
How did Princeton pull off the shocker?
With elite defense in the home stretch, as the Tigers held the Wildcats scoreless in the final 4:43 and closed the game on a 9-0 run. With Princeton down 55-52, senior guard Ryan Langborg rose to the occasion in his home state of California, notching back-to-back buckets to pull the Tigers ahead with two minutes on the clock. That defense did not waver, holding Arizona’s perimeter trio of Courtney Ramey, Kerr Kriisa and Pelle Larsson to 6-for-20 from the floor and the Wildcats as a team to 3-for-16 from downtown.
This wasn’t the typical upset where David beats Goliath behind red-hot 3-point shooting or something out of the ordinary. It was a simple case of the Tigers out-defending Arizona and forcing them to tough shots on the perimeter.
Plus, the Tigers had the most impactful player on the floor: Tosan Evbuomwan.
The senior from England, who did not start learning the game of basketball until he was 13, willed Princeton throughout the day, scoring 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.
Evbuomwan has gone from being totally off the recruiting map at the age of 17, to his coach sending blind emails to different schools across the country that specialized in high academics, to winning an NCAA Tournament game for an Ivy League school.
The Tigers put on the latest great display of March, while Arizona ended the season with a thump after winning the Pac-12 Tournament.
It’s a disappointing end for a Wildcats squad that spent much of the season in the top five of the AP poll, but there’s also a bigger picture to consider — the big winner here is Alabama, as 2-seed Arizona and 4-seed Virginia have been bounced in the South Region. The 3-seed, Baylor, is in action on Friday but will be another team on upset alert with a dangerous UC Santa Barbara team standing in their way.
The Crimson Tide’s path looked easy on paper, and it’s sure playing out that way already.
13. Furman 68, No. 4 Virginia 67
Interview with Furman coach Bob Richey
Richey joined us to discuss the Paladins’ stunning upset of Virginia, speaking in part about his team’s resilience after losing on a 35-footer in last season’s conference championship game.
“It started with everybody staying together,” he said. “Two fifth-year seniors that we know could have gone anywhere in the country, they decided to stay at Furman because they love Furman and they love their teammates. We all stayed together and it was a huge part of it.”
Check out the full interview here:
Breakdown of Furman’s win:
Madness. Fur-Madness … Absolute madness in all of its glory.
Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament wasted no time in showing why it’s the best Thursday of the sports calendar year.
Just two games into the afternoon, we have seen the unexpected already happen.
In Orlando, Virginia clung to a 67-63 lead despite furious attempts by SoCon champion Furman to pull off the upset. Just when it looked like the Cavaliers were going to hang on to avoid the popular upset pick entering the dance … the Paladins struck for an WILD closing sequence to earn their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1974!
After a pair of free throws by Garrett Hien with 12 seconds left cut the lead to two, the Cavaliers had trouble on the in-bounds pass, with Kihei Clark hurling the ball into the air. Hien picked off the pass at halfcourt. He found sophomore JP Pegues, who was 2-for-8 from the floor on the day and 0-for-3 from downtown.
Peques wasn’t wasting this moment, drilling a cold-blooded triple that turned out to be the game-winner as a Reece Beekman heave at the buzzer sailed long.
It was utter absurdity in the final seconds, but think about this: Virginia led by 12 with less than 12 minutes to play in Orlando. Against Tony Bennett’s style, that would feel like more than just a dozen for most opponents. But not for Furman.
Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson, a pair of seniors who had their hearts broken in the SoCon championship game a year ago by Chattanooga, decided to come back for one last ride in Greenville, S.C.
They kicked the door down with revenge over the Mocs, and getting their big dance opportunity, they’re part of history and a moment for Furman University that shines a light on what makes the big dance so great.
Beyond the players, 39-year-old head coach Bob Richey has been regarded as a rising star in the industry. He just caught the eyes of the nation, and one can expect he’ll be receiving calls in the not-so-distant future.
The big picture: Furman can make the Sweet 16. Taking down a 4-seed in Virginia, the Paladins are getting the winner of San Diego State and College of Charleston. While both teams are fully capable themselves, the Aztecs have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2015. The Cougars have not advanced since 1997.
Slawson (19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) showed against Virginia that he can be the best player on the floor. The 6-foot-7 senior is a real matchup nightmare and a sneaky prospect who could get some flyers taken on him off this run. Beyond that, Furman knocked down 10 three-pointers. The Paladins have a formula to make the second weekend.
On the other side of this result, it’s the latest heartbreak for a Virginia team that had some struggles over the final month and change of the season. For Clark, it’s the sharpest form of contrast from what he did in 2019 against Purdue en route to a national title. The Hoos have seen every form of this tournament in the last five years.
8. Maryland 67, 9. West Virginia 65
Exclusive: Interview with Maryland coach Kevin Willard
Following the Terrapins’ gritty victory over the Mountaineers, coach Kevin Willard stopped by to talk about the importance of the victory to Maryland basketball, how the Terps kept fighting after falling behind early, and the challenge ahead against Alabama in the second round.
He also gave me a hard time for not picking Maryland, saying: “The great thing about you going 0-1 is I saved a lot of money going to your wedding here in September. So now I don’t have to worry about traveling up and buying a nice gift.”
Watch the entire interview here:
Breakdown of Maryland’s win:
Ten minutes into Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener in Birmingham, it looked like it would be an anticlimactic start to the big dance. Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team led Maryland 19-6 and the Mountaineers were giving the Terrapins turnover fits.
But this is a different Maryland team, and a new era this year in College Park. Thursday afternoon was the finest reflection of what Kevin Willard has brought to the fold rather immediately for the Terps, as they turned the tables on the game behind Julian Reese and took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
Even after giving up a 16-0 run at one point in the second half to fall behind 47-38, the Terps responded with a 14-4 surge highlighted by Donald Carey, Hakim Hart and Reese to take the lead back.
With five minutes left, trailing by a trio, Scott and Hart delivered five straight to give Maryland the 61-59 lead that they would hang on to for a 67-65 victory.
For Scott and Hart, players who stuck by the program through an ugly ending to the Mark Turgeon era and a period of transition for Willard, Thursday afternoon offered the reward for getting through those battles.
The big picture: Maryland has the Big Ten off to a 1-0 start to a crucial tournament for the conference. Nobody could have seen the Terps being a tournament team at the start of the year, nor alone a team in the Round of 32. An uphill climb against Brandon Miller and Alabama is ahead, but just having that opportunity alone gives the program a chance that is ahead of schedule to shock the world.
Willard has done a remarkable job in Year 1.
7. Missouri 76, 10. Utah State 65
Missouri wins first NCAA Tournament game in 13 years
If you’re an athletic director at a school that’s sitting at home right now and not dancing, you’re examining your program closely. Why? Because turnarounds can happen quickly in the age of the transfer portal in college basketball.
That’s evidenced by Missouri, which went 12-21 a year ago and was celebrating its first NCAA Tournament victory in 4,745 days on Thursday afternoon with a 76-65 victory over Utah State.
Dennis Gates, who took over a tough Cleveland State job and put the Vikings on the map, is now doing it in just his first year at the helm of the Tigers. He brought four of his players from CSU over with him to the SEC, and on Thursday, Vikings transfer D’Moi Hodge led the way with 23 points. Senior Kobe Brown, the lone impact player who stuck around for the coaching change, had 19 points and eight rebounds as the Tigers shot 7-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Mizzou will get the winner of Arizona/Princeton in a game that I believe could be closer than most, but if it is the Wildcats, it could be challenging for the Tigers to go up against the nation’s fourth-best offense.
That said, for now, it’s a day for Gates, AD Desiree Reed-Francois and the Missouri board to celebrate bringing him to the school in the first place. A source close to Georgetown told me that if they had been a year sooner in firing Patrick Ewing, Gates would have been their guy. Now, he’s put Missouri back on the map.
Meanwhile, for Utah State, it’s the latest case of NCAA Tournament downfall in the Mountain West, which has lost 11 straight in the dance and has not won a game since 2018.
5. San Diego State vs. 12. Charleston
Aztecs avenge last year, opportunity knocks for Sweet 16 ticket
A year ago, San Diego State was up by nine on Creighton with 3:48 left. What ensued was a heartbreaking collapse and overtime loss that sat with the Aztecs throughout the last 12 months.
On Thursday afternoon, Brian Dutcher tasted his first NCAA Tournament victory, and it comes with added fortune: San Diego State draws a 13-seed, Furman, for a spot in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
The Aztecs used their defensive tenacity to hold a 31-win College of Charleston team to 5-for-24 from beyond the arc, pulling away in the final stretch behind Matt Bradley’s 17 points and a trio going for eight apiece.
With the game tied at 53 at 2:30 to play in Orlando, Bradley drove and slammed home a dunk. The fifth-year senior, who came back for this very moment, notched his first tournament win. After a stop, the Aztecs hit just one of four triples on the day, courtesy of Micah Parrish.
The win for SDSU ends the Mountain West’s worst nightmare. The conference had lost 11 in a row following Nevada’s First Four loss to Arizona State and Utah State’s defeat to Missouri.
That streak could get washed away in 48 hours, because the Aztecs have a precious opportunity on Saturday against 13th-seeded Furman, which knocked off Virginia with a miracle on Thursday.
The Aztecs last made the Sweet 16 under Steve Fisher in 2014, when they went 31-5 and earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Jalen Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds for No. 1 seed and defending national champion Kansas, which allowed absent and recovering coach Bill Self to rest a bit more comfortably during a 96-68 victory over Howard on Thursday in a West Region first-round game.
Self is recovering from a heart procedure.
Gradey Dick had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the freshman’s first NCAA Tournament game, his first career double-double. Kansas, which has won 16 consecutive first-round games, is aiming to become the first repeat national champion in 16 years.
1. Alabama 96, 16. Texas A&M-CC 75
Alabama buried Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under an early 3-point onslaught, launching the NCAA Tournament’s top seed to a romp even with star freshman Brandon Miller going scoreless.
The Crimson Tide (30-5) set aside their off-court distractions and buried 10 first-half 3s in a predictably easy win over the 16th-seeded Islanders (24-11) at Legacy Arena, less than an hour from campus.
Miller, the 6-foot-9 All-American who has been beset by questions about his presence at the scene of a fatal shooting, sat out the final 14 minutes and missed all five field goal attempts while dealing with a groin injury. His previous low was eight points against Houston on Dec. 10.
8. Arkansas 73, 9. Illinois 63
Arkansas‘ defense is too much for Illinois as Illini end a frustrating season
A dunk by RJ Melendez cut the Arkansas lead to five with 2:30 left, but a Coleman Hawkins turnover led to a Ricky Council IV dagger bucket as Arkansas beat Illinois in the West Region matchup.
The Razorbacks’ ball pressure was the theme of the day, forcing 17 turnovers and holding Matthew Mayer without a made field goal. Council, who’s taken on the lead role for this team after transferring in from Wichita State, stepped up with 18 points and 10 rebounds while veteran Devo Davis added 16. The Hogs only shot 3-for-11 from downtown, but they won it the Eric Musselman way, with physicality and quickness.
Arkansas gets Kansas on Saturday and will have a legit chance in that game if it can pressure Jayhawks point guard Dajuan Harris.
Kansas blew away Howard 96-68 earlier behind 20 points from Jalen Wilson and a double-double by Gradey Dick. The status of head coach Bill Self is up in the air as he continues to recover from a health issue.
As for Illinois, Brad Underwood had one of the most frustrating seasons in college basketball. The Illini were chosen second in the Big Ten preseason poll, and while they did win 20 games, they were in the middle of the pack in the league and never played consistent basketball.
In six years at the helm, Underwood has accounted for just two NCAA Tournament wins in Champagne. This Illini team should have been better than a one-and-done exit after hitting some home runs in the transfer portal last offseason.
COMING UP:
7. Northwestern vs. 10. Boise State
1. Houston vs. 16. Northern Kentucky
4. Tennessee vs. 13. Louisiana
7. Texas A&M vs. 10. Penn State
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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